Cornyn pledges to reach across aisle

By Steward M. Powell

Updated 10:10 pm, Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Photo: Harry Hamburg, FRE

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As Senate minority whip, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, right, will have an office near the Senate floor so that he can step in on short notice for Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, center. Cornyn was unopposed for the party job. less

As Senate minority whip, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, right, will have an office near the Senate floor so that he can step in on short notice for Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, center. Cornyn was ... more

Photo: Harry Hamburg, FRE

Cornyn pledges to reach across aisle

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WASHINGTON - Sen. John Cornyn vowed Wednesday to bring "core Texas values" and a readiness to compromise to his new post as second-in-command of Senate Republicans' diminished ranks.

Cornyn parlayed years of behind-the-scenes service in the Senate GOP leadership into the higher profile post of party whip. His job will be to muster 44 GOP colleagues on key Senate votes and serve as pitchman for his party's legislative priorities.

The courtly former Texas Supreme Court justice will work from a cozy office near the Senate floor so that he can step in on short notice for Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Cornyn, 60, a resident of San Antonio, where his public service career began as a district court judge in 1984, was asked whether he wanted to track the career of another Texan who served as a party whip in the Senate: Lyndon B. Johnson.

"I've heard of him," Cornyn quipped during a conference call with Texas reporters.

'A seat at the table'

Asked if his Senate career might track Johnson's path to higher office, Cornyn recalled the adage that people invite God's laughter by laying future plans.

"My future is not completely in my control so all I can do is do the best job given the responsibility I have been given now," explained Cornyn, a former Texas attorney general and state Supreme Court justice who has consistently left open the possibility of seeking higher office.

Texans will benefit from his new assignment because it "gives me a seat at the table" to assure that the Lone Star State "gets its fair share," he said.

"I'm honored to have been chosen by my colleagues to help lead our caucus during such a critical time for this country," Cornyn said. "Core Texas values like hard work, limited government, and individual liberty will continue to guide me in this new role."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry called Cornyn's new assignment an "opportunity to bring his solid Texas values to the leadership table and work to lead our federal government away from its failed policies of debt, high spending and disregard for the Constitutional limit of federal power."

No comment from Cruz

Lt. Gov. David Dew­hurst said Cornyn's elevation was "great for Texas and conservatives throughout America."

Cornyn immediately plunged into pressing the Republican Party's cause in upcoming congressional negotiations with the White House over steps to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" on Jan. 1.

Without emergency congressional and White House action, billions of dollars could be abruptly withdrawn from the sputtering economy thanks to expiration of Bush-era tax cuts, Obama-era payroll tax reductions and Draconian government spending cuts.

GOP lost 2 Senate seats

Cornyn won the leadership post despite overseeing his party's losses on Nov. 6 as chairman of the Senate Republicans' multimillion-dollar campaign operation. The GOP's ranks thinned from 47 to 45 of the chamber's 100 seats, strengthening the Democratic Party's hold.

"What the Republican Party needs to do is to communicate and convince people that we care about all the American people and we are the party of opportunity and prosperity," Cornyn said. "That message didn't get through this November."

Cornyn was unopposed for the job after Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., withdrew to serve another term as chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the party's caucus in the Senate.